Si no has comido la aceituna...

Question

I've just heard this, the context is that two people have been talking about one of them buying a flat. One says 'le di la mano' which I assume means 'we shook hands on it' or 'we agreed on the deal', but he isn't sure he really wants to go ahead with buying the flat. The other man then asks if he has given a deposit, which the first man hasn't.

I think he then says......

Si no has comido la aceituna no hay necesitar de expulsar el pipo..

My guess:

If you haven't eaten the olive, there's no need to spit out the pip.

Have I got it right? If I have, can anybody think of an English equivalent, I understand the meaning but I'm sure we must have a similar saying.

Answer 1

What about " So it's not yet set in stone " ? (I'd translate pipo as stone, rather than pip, of an olive)

Yes I think that's good Peterpierre, thank you. :) - galsally, Nov 3, 2010